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1998
Year Overview 1998 is known as the beginning of the "Attitude Era" in WWE history. The women coming out of 1997 rarely got physical with the exception of one of the newest Divas, Chyna. We saw the return of Luna Vachon in November, the departure of Marlena, Sunny in a limbo with no definite storylines, and Sable and Marc Mero's relationship beginning to fall apart. The women have not wrestled in a televised match since 1995. However, 1998 changed things up. The beginning of the year continued to skyrocket for Sable whose popularity was continuing to grow. She would engage in a feud with Luna Vachon that would last until the end of April that proved to be very popular with the fans. Both ladies were featured in main events of RAW including being in the ending segments of the show (usually reserved for main eventers and rare for Divas to be the main focus). The two would have two pay-per-view matches at WrestleMania XIV and Unforgiven 1998. Chyna during this time would be heavily involved in the D-Generation X story lines and would gain notoriety for her physical encounters with the men that would play a larger part of her career later on. Sunny, on the other hand would manage L.O.D. 2000 for three months before disappearing off WWE television. During the summer, we saw the feud of Sable and Marc Mero that cultivated into Sable's third pay-per-view match at Over the Edge which resulted in Sable being off TV for few weeks. Luna Vachon (now "Princess Luna") would join the Parade of Human Oddities and go back to managing. Jacqueline would debut in June as Marc Mero's new valet/girlfriend. Sable returned and eventually Jacqueline would get into several altercations with Sable that would revitalize the Women's division completely. Sable and Jacqueline would have one of the greatest women's feuds of all-time. Sable during this time would form an alliance with Luna and the Oddities. Chyna would have her first match. The fall season brought back the Women's Championship. Jacqueline would become the first African American woman to win the championship. Former beauty queen Debra McMichael would debut as Jeff Jarrett's business associate. Sable and Jacqueline would continue to feud from In Your House 23 Fully Loaded to Survivor Series 1998. Luna would get into an occasional match with Jacqueline but mainly stuck to being a manager. During this time, we saw a lot of in-ring action from the women. Marlena (now under her real name Terri Runnels) made her return aligning herself with Val Venis to take revenge on her ex-husband Goldust for dumping her in 1997. The year ended in change. Mero dumped Jacqueline and Terri Runnels was dumped by Val after announcing she was pregnant. This led both women to attack their former beaus in a match and form a stable known as the Pretty Mean Sisters (P.M.S.) and involved themselves with D'Lo Brown. Sable did not compete much after Survivor Series, but during her defense against the "Spider Lady" she was attacked and Spider Lady revealed herself to be Luna, reigniting their previous feud. Tori would start making appearances as Sable's fan. Chyna would engage herself in a relationship with Mark Henry, even getting into a scuffle with P.M.S. over him. Debra would prove to be a vital manager for Jarrett, interfering to help him win matches and became popular herself by the end of the year. Overall, 1998 brought a lot to the table and revamped the image of what would later become today's WWE Divas. The addition of the championship as well as two big diva feuds really highlighted the women on the roster. All of the women during this time were utilized in some capacity. This would be the peak of Sable and Luna Vachon's WWE careers before their departure the following years. Roster * Chyna * Debra * Jacqueline * Luna Vachon * Sable * Sunny * Terri Runnels Debuts * Jacqueline * Mrs. Yamaguchi * Debra McMichael * Tori (unofficial) Departures * Sunny * Mrs. Yamaguchi Feuds * Sable vs. Luna Vachon * Sable vs. Marc Mero/Jacqueline * Chyna vs. Mark Henry Notable Events * July 29, 1998: Sunny was released from her contract. Rumors of legit backstage problems with Sable and an addiction to painkillers, as well as no-showing several appearances were said to be the reason. However, Sunny debunked these rumors later on saying the release was mutual after they had told her they had no further storylines for her. She is the first "Diva" to be released. She would make appearances at the 15th anniversary of RAW in December 2007; Sunny would also participate in the Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal at WrestleMania 25 (her only match in WWE); In 2011, she was inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame by the entire roster of Divas. * August 24, 1998: Mrs. Yamaguchi's storyline was dropped and she was never seen again on WWE television. Category:Timeline Category:Attitude Era